LiveKit vs mediasoup
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video conferencing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
LiveKit
Scalable WebRTC infrastructure for real-time audio and video
VS
mediasoup
Cutting-edge WebRTC SFU library for Node.js
| Feature | LiveKit | mediasoup |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Conferencing | Video Conferencing |
| License | Apache-2.0 | ISC |
| Language | Go | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 20,181 | ★ 7,325 |
| First released | 2021 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Twilio, Agora | Twilio Video |
Why pick each one
Choose mediasoup if…
- Released under the ISC license
- Mature project with 7.3k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is LiveKit or mediasoup better?
Neither is universally better. LiveKit has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are LiveKit and mediasoup free and open-source?
Yes. LiveKit is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mediasoup under ISC. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LiveKit and mediasoup with Docker?
LiveKit: yes. mediasoup: check the project docs for container support.